FAYETTEVILLE -- A crowd of 60 to 70 people gathered at a Fayetteville church Friday night to discuss how they can work toward a community focused on basic human needs.
The event was promoted as the beginning of a campaign to "Build Community, Not Jails." The gathering was organized by the Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition, which has lobbied for alternatives to incarceration and called for a moratorium on construction of new jail space in Benton and Washington counties.
While the workshop offered opportunities to develop a wide-ranging list of concerns and priorities, the proposed jail projects were among the reasons many attended.
Lexi Acello of Fayetteville works for the Washington County Public Defender's Office. She said having a more substantive conversation around the problems of overcrowding in the jails and solutions to the problem prompted her to attend.
"The jail expansion proposal hasn't been thoroughly researched, and there hasn't been enough community input," Acello said. "I think it's been rushed and done in a 'back-door' way. If we build a larger jail, we're just going to incarcerate more people."
Acello also said the idea of increasing the local sales tax increase is a poor choice.
"The tax increase is really troubling," she said. "People were struggling before the pandemic and are struggling even more now. We already have a high sales tax rate. Raising it even more is inappropriate and misguided."
Evangeline Beaumont of Rogers said the jail expansion proposal is "a poor solution to a nonexistent problem."
"It's not really a solution at all," she said.
Beaumont said she wants to see more such events so people in the community can be heard and share their views.
Rickey Booker of Springdale, said he learned of the event because he attends the church and he was interested in learning more about the jail proposal and the proposed tax increase.
"I'm here to watch and listen," he said. "I'm trying to learn what I can."
Monique Jones, one of the organizers of the event, said more such gatherings will be held as part of an effort to educate people and encourage them to be involved in the decision-making process.
Washington County's Quorum Court has approved an ordinance placing on the ballot a plan for an expansion of the county's Detention Center and the juvenile courts facility. The proposal calls for a bond issue of up to $113.5 million for the jail expansion and another bond issue of up to $28.5 million for the juvenile courts expansion. The bonds would be paid for by a temporary 0.25% sales increase that will expire when the bonds are paid.
Benton County's Quorum Court is set to consider a plan for a $206 million jail expansion, with an accompanying one-eighth percent sales tax increase to pay for the bonds plus a permanent one-quarter percent sales tax to cover maintenance and operations costs at the jail, at the Quorum Court's Aug. 25 meeting.
The Washington County Sheriff's Office proposed expanding the jail in 2018, citing crowding as a continuing problem. The jail has a design capacity of 710 beds but is generally considered to be at capacity when about 80% of the beds are occupied due to legal requirements for separating detainee classifications.
That proposal was tabled and the county commissioned a study by the National Center for State Courts in 2019 that recommended a range of alternatives from improved pretrial services, consideration of lowering the bond amounts being set by the court, alternative courts such as a mental health court to divert people away from the criminal justice system and services to help people avoid missing court dates and being subject to arrest for failure to appear.
The Washington County Quorum Court has approved design work on a covid-related expansion separate from the larger expansion project. The covid-related proposal would add 232 beds and space for quarantining and isolating detainees for health reasons; for the intake, medical and courts areas; and storage and administrative purposes. That proposed expansion would cost about $20 million if approved by the Quorum Court and take two to three years to complete.
Jim Langford with Spirit Architecture, which is working on the $20 million covid-related expansion and which developed the jail expansion plan for the county in 2018 told the justices of the peace in June he could give them some "planning-level" information on an updated version of the 2018 plan. If the county chooses to pursue an expansion that will add from 1,000 to 1,500 beds that would require from 160,000 to 170,000 square feet of new space, Langford said, adding in that in 2018 the cost per square foot was put at $400 and he would now put it at around $600 per square foot. He estimated the cost of the expansion at about $96 million.
Sarah Moore (left), co-founder of the Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition, records ideas from her group Friday during a community workshop organized by the coalition at St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Fayetteville. The event, called "Build Community, Not Jails," was held to explore alternatives to county jail expansion plans. Visit nwaonline.com/220813Daily/ for today’s photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)
Mac Mayfield speaks Friday to members of a group of fellow residents during a community workshop organized by the Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition at St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Fayetteville. The event, called "Build Community, Not Jails," was held to explore alternatives to county jail expansion plans. Visit nwaonline.com/220813Daily/ for today’s photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)
Moderator Mariah Green (right) leads a discussion Friday during a community workshop organized by the Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition at St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Fayetteville. The event, called "Build Community, Not Jails," was held to explore alternatives to county jail expansion plans. Visit nwaonline.com/220813Daily/ for today’s photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)Ballot question
Washington County voters will be asked to approve a 0.25% sales tax increase to expand the county’s jail and juvenile court facilities. The temporary sales would pay for a $113.5 million bond issue for the jail expansion and a $28.5 million bond issue for a juvenile court expansion. The tax would expire when the bonds are paid for. The issues will appear on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.
Source: NWA Democrat-Gazette